Matou no Houkai: The Hero of Babel (Famicom Disk System, 1988, Carry Lab/Pony Canyon)

It doesn't matter that this game is a rip off. That's not the issue here at all. What is the issue are the faults that make it inferior to what it's aping.


First of, for those not in the know, Matou no Houkai: The Hero of Babel is a Famicom Disk System game that closely resembles Castlevania. After having played it I'd actualy say the similarities are sorta superficial and don't reach further then the first level or so, beyond one or two things.

The game starts you off inside a rather sparsely lit castle. Unlike the Belmonts, your hero here follows the more common sense route of using sharp metallic objects instead of whips and I can't fault him for it, I'd probably do the same, if by some miracle the world suddenly became 2 dimensional, poorly animated and filled with all sorts of monsters who have nothing better to do then do go back and forth seemingly without purpose forever.



However, don't go thinking about going on your merry slugfest just yet. You'll soon realise that, unlike in the Castlevanias, your jump is basicly a cosmetical additional, who'se purpose is ocasionally jump up a stair (and you can just hop up automaticaly by <i>walking </i>towards the stairs) or over a flame in Level 5, however as far as bridging any sorta gaps is concerned.....well he's no Mario, let's put it at that.


Indeed, the levels are laid out so you think you're supposed to jump over a gap but then fall through - either because of an invisible block or just because. However, and this is the biggest difference between, well ya know, the levels are actualy circular, which means every floor and platform loops around so you just have to go to the side if you can't go up directly. Also finding invisible elevators is crucial to getting anywhere.

Further differences include the fact you never leave the towers, unlike in Castlevania 2 where indeed traveling betweent he mansions is a big (and possibly highly unwelcome) part of the game. Here you're always in a tower and never see as much as a window or terrace.



Every level or "floor" of the tower has many doors and various secrets you need to discover. I mainly followed a guide so I can't say how comprehensible the character dialogue is, in comparisson to....I reffer you to the previous "ya know". Finding all the secrets enables you to get plot critical items and extra special weapons. For example the bombs are necessary later on to find secret entrances and rooms. You use these by selecting them in the menu and then pressing attack and down....however once you collect a weapon you keep it at all times and simply need enough "WP" ammo (usualy collected from enemies) to hurl it continously. One rather annoying detail, you can actualy hit yourself with your own weapons if they bounce back and <i>will </i>take dammage.



Enemies, upon defeat, drop chests (you also find chests in walls and lying around in various rooms). These may contain either WP, sometimes Luck (which I have no idea what it even does) and Life, although regular enemies never seem to drop that.



The game also features experience points. These seems to increase your maximum life, but don't realy seem to influence your attack power much.

Pictured: Your "fight" with the true final boss

Now the least impressive thing about the game is it's level design. Because there realy isn't that much to speak of. Gaps in the floor you bridge on horizontal or vertical elevators, ladders and monsters appearing every single time your feet touch a new platform. The monsters spawn so predictabely and act so similarily that fighting them isn't all that fun.


The mini bosses are slightly different, with each level having several. These either have or don't have a health bar but generaly act the same. Also there's a boss at the end of every level, unlike a <i>certain </i>other game brought up previously. However the bosses all have the amazing ability to warp from one end of the screen to the other, and even be on both sides at once.


The games biggest problem by far is it's inventory. Here every single potion and weapon's recharge takes up a seperate slot, which means these may prevent you from obtaining critical items such as keys from chests. However the chests dissapear upon non-collecting them anyway and this can seemingly lead to an unwinable state. In addition you have trapped chests, which face a different direction then normal ones, may have power downs in them and in at least one level I couldn't get the level exit key because I collected a trapped chest without using the item necessary to untrap it and it was just gone and refused to come back even though the pillar it was hidden in reset when I left the room.


If you manage to sucessfully get to the end of the fifth level, you have to face the final boss, under a time limit, something not present until now. You have to use the final special weapon, a spell book, to kill it quicker, however if, like me, you didn't bring any WP refills with you then you have to finish the guy off by hitting him with your sword. Easier said then done when the guys fires off clusters of bullets so tightly packed that hitting/awoiding all of them is a matter of extreme luck and he seems to have an area around his sprite where he gives you dammage even though you're not touching him directly.


After you beat him you get a choice of three doors. These lead to a different series of bosses, however your health or WP stock doesn't get replenished at all. Worse, the timer is still going. And the absolute worst thing is that even the shortest route has you face the boss of level 3.

Why is it so bad you ask ? Well because the level 3 Boss is the only boss in the game who spends 90 % of his time banging his head against the ceiling, completely out of your reach. Even if you had any weapon ammo left, it wouldn't reach him. And he fires off small egg like things that burts into multiple projectiles which - thanks to the "enemies and projectiles can teleport from the egde of the screen but you can't" "feature", are even harder to hit/avoid. And in addition to this you have to have enough time after you beat this guy to go up the stairs in the next room, talk to the princess, use an item and wait for a second or two. And if you die you have to redo the whole level.


I wanted to like this game but it becomes monotonous with it's "no brains needed" level design and the fact the last boss fight is nearly impossible unless you're loaded with special weapon refills.